Ed Psych vs. Social Psych programs

[dcl]

I am pursuing an academic career in psychology and am currently in a top educational psychology phd program (top 5), but my research interests seem to be more aligned with social psychology. I was recently admitted to a lower ranked social psychology (75-100) where I would have the opportunity to work with a prof who shares my interests. In terms of placement, which program would be better?

[ilikemoney]

Can't imagine there's a solid answer to that. Can you do social psych research in the Ed school? Do you ultimately want to do education-related social psych research?

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have a degree in psych and want to do educational research, you can still get a position in a faculty of education with a non-education degree. It's much more difficult to get a position in a faculty of psychology with an education degree. So despite placement within field, your options may still be better with the psych degree.

A ranking of 5 vs 95 is a big difference, but not insurmountable. (For that matter, education departments are not the most competetive places in academia. Not sure how it ranks to psychology. No offense ed schoolers, I have graduated twice now from ed. schools. )

In any event, I would keep in mind your wider options outside the education school and evaluate that in terms of placement at each of your schools. Good luck.

[LTee]

I was considering applying to a masters program for Educational Psych (if I don't get into school psych programs), but Im unclear as to what kind of jobs are available for this degree, maybe you know?

[socialpsychg]

I'm fairly certain the top 5 Ed Psych Program would be better placement. Even if you're in the top 30 or 40 in social psych, placement into a research university doesn't seem that assured.

[juilletmercredi]

Your actual title/subfield matters less than the research that you're doing. You can do social psychology research in educational psychology, and research in educational psychology gives you more flexibility - you could do a psychology faculty or an education faculty/school of education. Plus, there's a big difference between 5 and 75.